Oatly takes out ad in The Guardian to mock 'desperately out of touch' parents about pronouns in email signatures

Oh jeez, I saw that come up on FB and didn't realise it was Oatly. Bloody patronising and all the other comments seemed to think so too.
I'm vegan and was intending to give Oatly a try as I go through quite a bit of nondairy milk. Perhaps not, then.

@JumboShiitake

The comment on your son is really interesting - I do feel I'm picking up signs that things are changing with the new generation coming up. My own DD is pretty GC (she hadn't heard me discuss the issue so this didn't come from me) and quite often now I see comments on social media like "expected my 15 yr old to be really TRA but...."

There was also a Tweet somewhere where a young man said "in our school the boys let any girl who doesn't want to change in the "girls" room use ours and we all go outside". And generally the profile pics of objectors are getting younger and much more willing to complain about homophobia and so on. Generally thy look less "like me"!!!

It makes sense really. Nowadays the TRA viewpoint is the "establishment" view so rebelling against it would be the normal thing to do. And the whole "100 genders, anime photo, whacky pronouns" thing is maybe starting to look tiresome and self-indulgent.

Of course all this is necessarily a bit vague but I do feel something is happening.

Am I the only one who is finding this quiz hilarious? Clearly aimed at Gen X Guardian-reading parents.

But yeah, the humour is a bit lame, like the Guardian these days, so it all works marketing-wise IMO.

I've just been re-reading through the ad linked by MissBarbary. It's odd.

Exactly who is it aimed at in the 21st century? I'm going to confess to once upon a time policing my parents' recycling as a passionate teenager armed with my Blue Peter Guide to Being Green, but that was in the late 90s when we didn't have doorstep recycling. (They said that if it was so important to me to recycle their newspapers, then I could lug the week's newspapers to the recycling bins at the supermarket. It was and I did. )

I don't know anyone of an age to be the parent of a Guardian-reading young adult who can't handle sticking glass jars in the recycling box. Or anyone who pays heating bills who is blasé about letting the heat out of an open window.

TBH I'm starting to wonder if these companies are doing it on purpose to get free advertising via these long threads on MN. Because they're all companies selling vegan products. But why the fuck do they think it's ok to drive a wedge between adults and parents? Question 5 bothers me the most, I think.

Overall the whole concept of "wokest advertising"/getting free PR by embracing controversial political causes is exploitative of a world view that I highly doubt any big company actually subscribes to or why aren't they redistributing their profits to the homeless? Anyone with half a mind for critical thinking should be able to see right through it.

FWIW I'm 34 and have been vegan since about a decade before it was cool and I find the idea of telling people what pronouns to use offensive and infantile. A lot of mums of babies with CMPA are encouraged to buy Oatly Barista, but Alpro Growing Up Milk is cheaper and more widely available so I stick with that. Also I like that it has a giraffe on the box

I love Oatly but their latest campaign is weird and misjudged. It’s all aimed at teenagers and is attacking various things, for example they are attacking dairy farmers in one advert. I don’t have dairy (or meat but not full vegan) but I don’t agree with this at all. It’s not clever marketing to me it’s extremely off putting. They’ve made a big mistake with this latest campaign.

Snort

Is this aimed at teens? If so my DS is as far removed from vegan as you can get, throws away his body weight in single use plastic every week, drinks a tonne of cows milk, and has probably never even heard of the Guardian.

Not all of which I particularly approve of, however, he definitely wouldn't be buying it. I don't really fancy it now either, thanks all the same.

Oh and if you're reading, Oatly marketing, pronouns are on their way out. Very few of my DS' age group are using them anymore.

@Whatwouldscullydo

Whoever does their market research should really look into who it is who does the shopping.

Exactly.

Who the hell approved this from a marketing perspective?

They are not winning consumers here by slagging off the parents who buy the bloody product and the Guardian newspaper are they?

It's really quite an insulting "quiz" all round in respect of all the questions, not just the one on pronouns.

Bye, bye Oatly from my fridge....

I think oatly is rank personally. It's the worst for splitting in tea and isn't fortified with B12 like other brands. They're just desperately trying to claw back woke points after the whole Blackstone fiasco. It's so transparent I'm actually cringing for them.

What dickheads.

www.theguardian.com/food/2020/sep/01/oatly-vegan-milk-sale-blackstone

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/01/26/oatlys-pompous-priggish-new-advert-veganism-no-favours/

I only use Twitter for work, but I've never seen anyone, of any age, on any social media, feel like they have to openly declare their pronouns, and that includes DDs and all their friends.

I hope this gets picked up in the mass media and Oatly get absolutely roasted for it, just because it's so utterly embarrassing, ageist and patronising, regardless of the gender wokeness.

Stupid people. I have a cupboard full of Oatly for my dairy intolerant son. I won’t be buying any more.

Seems to be common theme this week. Nice small company with quirky style gets taken over and in attempt to maintain their previously loveable vibe fall into being offensively ageist, misogynistic or whatever. Well this ageing woman who does all the shopping can choose not to give money to companies who insult her. So Farewell Innocent and Oatly!

Oh good, about time we saw this utter shitshow of a company for who they are. Skin deep ethical values, funded by companies who invest in cluster bombs and deforestation and claim their processed nutritionally deficient, chemically fortified shite is better for the planet and our health than a bottle of natural milk from a farm with high standards and sustainable credentials in the U.K.

Total own goal and I couldn’t be more pleased.

They also part funded the “Eat Lancet” which is the major report telling us all dairy will kill you. Funny that.

God I'm so embarrassed for this company.
Luckily I saw this though, was going to start trying oat milk this month!

Also this is an EXCELLENT example of being kind. Making an ad campaign about how shit parents are when we're, hmmm, in the middle of a global pandemic that has killed many, many, many parents.
How sensitive to the losses of all these people. Parents! Shit eh, only shit people reproduce.

It’s annoying isn’t it?! We don’t use cows milk, only oatly. My fridge and pantry are full of the organic and the barista one. Still, there are other brands.

I saw it on Twitter, or something similar. I'm not buying a brand that preaches at me. Ironically I'll just buy dairy instead 😂

Fabulous suggestions for alternatives thank you ever so helpful witches/wise women

and you know what, I would never have bothered to tell you all about OATO!!!!!! if it hadn't been for those pesky kids!

& @ErrolTheDragon - I have to say we are not consumers of Oat milk in this family - but yes - very funny people have been given good alternatives . I suppose they have taken a punt - I hope based on research & if they get more customers than they lose minus the advertising cost - do they care ?

Oh @CaraDuneRedux One more here who you made laugh out loud & I too stand with Hashtag Cathy49

I am perfectly capable of reading the ingredients and sustainability of my groceries. As is my son. But - they have got us talking so I suppose to that extent it has worked - brand recognition etc. But - they have pissed me off. Depends whether fewer of me and more who loved that advert I suppose

But - It will be a while before I forget Cathy ( 49) who identifies as getting your fucking laundry down here - Oh I am still giggling - Thank you @CaraDuneRedux

It does come across as a bit ageist & patronising